Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 107670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Switching on the engine, Eli spoke. “If Hector was falsely accused, it could have bred a rage against shifters that needs venting. His parents stepped down and his pack fell apart. He lost his life, in some ways.”
“I know from Derren what it’s like to be falsely accused of such a crime,” said Nick. “It can definitely eat at a person and give him some dark demons. But surely Hector would have sought vengeance against his old pack if they had really wronged him.”
Zander sank deeper into the seat. “What’s pissing me off is that we still don’t have anything we can use against Hector. There are allegations but no proof. And there’s no sense in searching for proof unless we know for sure he was guilty, or we’d just be wasting our time.”
Nick leaned his head back. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we’ve got to talk to his parents.”
Scrubbing a hand over his jaw, Jesse said, “I think the only person who knows the full story is Hector. If they do know more than he’s comfortable with, he could have killed them.” Which would mean they were chasing ghosts.
It was shortly before dinner when they arrived at their territory. Nick waited until after they had eaten and the pups were in bed before he held a meeting in the living area, where he relayed what Garth had told him. After plenty of speculation over whether or not Hector was guilty of the awful crime he’d been accused of, the pack dispersed and everyone went home.
In bed, Jesse took his mate hard and fast, seeking an oblivion that would let him escape the anger and frustration. For a while, it subsided. But only for a while. And so he lay there, staring up at the stars through the ceiling window.
Dancing her fingertips over his chest, Harley asked, “You all right?”
“Just frustrated that we have more questions than answers. I’d like to say that if Hector was really wrongly persecuted, I’d feel bad for him. But the truth is that I can’t feel bad for someone who’s trying to take our home. For me, nothing will justify that.”
“Of course it wouldn’t,” Harley assured him. She didn’t like seeing him so morose and pessimistic. “You know what I wonder?”
“What, baby?”
“Why he bothered offering to buy your territory when he could have just hit Nick with the blackmail material from the start.”
“He probably anticipated that Nick would refuse. This is a game to Hector—one he gets a perverse joy from. And if he’s so perverse, maybe he wasn’t falsely accused. That’s why we need to talk to his parents. I’ve been thinking . . . it’s possible that they didn’t give him up. Maybe he left them willingly. His father allegedly became an alcoholic. Living with an addict is no easy ride,” he added bitterly.
Harley propped her chin on his chest. “How bad did Mia get after I left?”
“Very bad.” Jesse ran his fingers up and down her spine. “I think people thought that she’d miraculously get better after you left.” He snorted. “If she wasn’t high, she was shit-faced. Sometimes she’d disappear for weeks. When that first started, everyone would panic and the pack would send out a search party. By the end, they didn’t bat an eyelid about it. That was why no one was alarmed when she went missing the last time. I probably wouldn’t have been either except so many other shifters were disappearing.”
“You tried to help her,” she reminded him. “We both did. She didn’t want that help.”
“I should have been grieving at the memorial. I just kept thinking of how selfish she’d been for dedicating years to killing herself. That’s what it was, Harley. A slow, drawn-out, drama-filled suicide. It didn’t even work. She died at the hands of extremists.” He sighed. “I tried to tell her so many fucking times that I didn’t blame her for . . .”
“For Torrie’s death,” she finished.
“But Mia wouldn’t hear it.”
“Because she blamed herself.”
“Losing her best friend should have made her appreciate life.”
Not if they were so close that Torrie had been her rock. Mia hadn’t been strong. “How long had she and Torrie known each other?”
He was quiet for a long moment. “I told you our pack has tangled with the extremists before, right?”
Harley blinked. Apparently he didn’t want to talk about Torrie. She might have pushed him for a little info if he weren’t already feeling so down. “Yes.”
“It was because of the hunting preserve where Mia was taken. We helped shut it down. The extremists behind its creation followed us to Phoenix Pack territory. Then both packs destroyed them. There were two leaders—one was actually a shifter. Zander, Bracken, and me . . . we killed him. It wasn’t a quick or easy death. It was long and painful. You should know that. You should know that I’m capable of that.”